On December 13, 2024, the Competition Authority of Turkey announced on Friday that it has imposed a fine of 26.1 billion lira (approximately 75 million dollars) on Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, for abusing its dominant position in the advertising services market.
The antitrust agency stated that Google holds a dominant position in the technology field of automated sales of advertising space, which violates competition laws. The statement pointed out that Google favored its own supply-side platform (SSP) services, making it more difficult for competitors to operate.
The agency has demanded that Google ensure non-discriminatory treatment of competitors within six months and provide fair conditions to third-party supply-side platforms not less favorable than those provided to its own platform. Failure to comply will result in daily fines. Google has the option to appeal this decision.
This ruling comes shortly after a U.S. judge declared that Google’s search engine constitutes illegal monopoly, and following European regulatory authorities’ request for Google to provide information on its advertising cooperation with Meta.
In June of this year, the Turkish antitrust agency had fined Google 482 million lira (approximately 14.85 million dollars) due to issues with its hotel search services.